Mommy Bloggers Philippines Mini Photography Workshop Rocks!
February 23, 2015Events and Workshops, Mommy Bloggers Philippines, Photography,
Last Saturday's AM Session of Mommy Bloggers Philippines Mini Photography Workshop was indeed a very fruitful and fun time for me. I considered it as my ultimate day-off after months of not being able to go out of the house for more that two hours! Yipee!
Makati area wasn't that familiar to me but I successfully arrived at Kabila Filipino Bistro on time. You have no idea how many times I asked different people before I reached the venue! Kaloka!
Mommies Lani Lluch and Louisa Mercado, the dynamic top ladies of MBP, were very busy preparing the materials and entertaining the participants as I arrived. I was handed by this loot bag with goodies from Villa Del Conte, Oil of Argan, and Henry's Professional.
When everything and everyone were all settled down, Lani gave us a backgrounder of what Mommy Bloggers Philippines was and introduced the Marketing Head of The Raintree Restaurants, Miss Mela Sison. She and her team warmly welcomed all of us and told us what their chain of restaurants offer.
It was followed by the workshop proper by the very bubbly and quirky, Mommy Joy Gurtiza of Joybites!
Raffle was done in between discussions. I was a person who wasn't gifted with winner's luck and winning that day was so shocking for me! I felt delighted to be chosen to bring home a gift pack from Nature Republic Philippines. I had a good experience using its Argan Mask. I felt so happy that it was included in the bag!
The following were my most favorite tips learned from the workshop:
1 Making and using DIY reflectors using illustration boards and crumpled aluminum foils
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| The DIY silver reflector can brighten up your photo while the gold one can make it look warmer. (Courtesy: Slide Gurtiza) |
2 Applying the "Top Six Camera Angles"
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| TILT TOWARDS the right is my most favorite camera angle. You can notice it on my photos on Instagram and other articles. According to Joy, this angle makes the dish welcoming you in, motivating the spectator to indulge in image. |
3 Prop Styling
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| "Props make photographs better and create an atmosphere and environment. Props create a setting or mood in photos that makes a viewer think about what the photographer is trying to communicate."- Joy Gurtiza |
4 Using Natural Light a.k.a. SUNLIGHT
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| Do your photo shoot during the "golden hour". Depending on the weather condition, the best time to shoot is from 8:00-9:00 AM and 3:00-4:30 PM. |
5 Setting the camera to WHITE BALANCE
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| White Balance makes the photo brighter and nicer under natural light. |
6 Experimenting by adjusting the camera settings
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| Experimenting like adjusting the camera settings and exposure compensation is encouraged for us to see which works best and make our photos nicer and post worthy. Here, I used indoor and sunset setting which made this photo look warmer. |
I never noticed that three hours already passed. We learned so much from Joy in a non-boring way, had our hands-on which made it more thrilling, and tasted the scrumptious dishes and desserts that we used as subjects. I also had a chance to see other MBP Members in person and meet new friends.
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| Any event is incomplete without a group photo op! (Courtesy: Slide Gurtiza) |
You may go HERE to see more photos of the workshop proper.
Guess what? Upon arriving home, I immediately placed a set-up near our window where I could practice what I learned while waiting for the golden hour. I still had no reflector made with foil so I used a whiteboard in taking this photo.
The following day, I waited again for the golden hour in the morning. It was very obvious that I was really, really excited. I tried using colored background to see if the reflector would work well despite the fact that the background wasn't white. The objects' image popped up! Amazing! Take note, the two photos below were not post-processed/edited.
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| Facial soap and 100% Morrocan oil from Oil of Argan |
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| Beauty products from Nature Republic Philippines |
I also wanted to see the difference among my raw photos and post-processed ones. Honestly, the difference was just minimal after following Joy's tips.
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| The two photos above were edited using Microsoft Office 2010. Joy suggested to use Lightroom due to being user-friendly. Papa got me an installer. I'm so happy! |
During lunch time at exactly 12:30 PM, I tried taking this photo to see how it would look like since it wouldn't be taken during the golden hour. See, the photo was bluish.
It really pays to wait for the golden hour.
This afternoon, I learned from Joy when Mommy Olive asked her on Facebook on how to focus on a certain object while the background would look faded. She said that the camera should be set to MACRO. I took the photo below at exactly 3:30 PM using white balance and macro settings, and white reflector. The focus on this photo was the brand name.
I hope that I gave justice to Joy's photography tips. There were so much areas that were tackled in the workshop that were not mentioned here. I suggest that it would be best for you to attend the next round of her workshop.
For me it's a must to see, hear, and do it yourself. I will keep you posted regarding the next seminar's schedule, promise!
13 comments
Great photos! and thank you for being with us! you got the lightroom na? galeng!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mommy Lani! Thanks to you, Louisa, and Joy for organizing the workshop! Malaking help talaga for us. Papa borrowed an installer from a friend. Hindi ko pa nasusubukan pero excited na ako. He was mentioning about that post-processing tool matagal na. By the way, ang bongga ng sponsors ha? I'm using na the soap and oil from Oil of Argan pati na ang Nature Republic beauty products. The props from Japan Home Centre were nice pati na ang bag from Gouche! Bongga rin ang light weight tripod from Henry's Professional na napanalunan ni Mommy Sol! I was so amazed how the three of you worked and collaborated with the sponsors! Dynamic three talaga kayo! Congrats again!:)
DeleteBy the way, Mommy Lani, for persons na walang DSLR cameras, who only use tablets, android phones, and point and shoot cameras, big help talaga ang seminar na ito. Lalo na sa akin na tamad bumasa ng manual (Aaminin ko na talaga! Lol!), it motivated me to learn more about my Sony DSC-W830 camera. I used my Samsung Tablet and Sony Camera during the workshop and used the latter during the photo shoot at home. :)
DeleteWow.. You're a Pro na Mommy SJ. Galing na mga photos mo, congrats!. I also like to get the Lighwork. Where did you download it? Thanks
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mommy Lally! I need more practice pa especially sa prop styling. A friend of Papa lent him a Lightroom installer. Hindi ko pa nasusubukan. I still used Microsoft Office photo editor sa Nature Republic Aloe Vera Soothing Gel pics.
DeleteHi mommy Joyce, malaking difference talaga ang workshop! Good composition :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I strongly agree, Mommy Maricel! Thanks for the compliment!
DeleteNice! Nakakatuwa naman basahin ng experience mo. Nakaka-excite ang pagkakasulat na yung feeling eh parang wala ako sa workshop at gusto ko matapos basahin yung mga sinulat mo. Haha! Claps!
ReplyDeleteHahaha! Thanks, Donya Shari! The feeling is mutual. Ako naman feeling ko nag-chichikahan tayong dalawa while reading your article. Ang saya naman kasi ng workshop. Hindi natin namalayan ang oras. Nice to see you there!
DeleteNice! Bigla akong nainggit nung nabasa ko yung post mo mommy SJ! Iniisip ko na lang, san ba nilalagay yung reflector? hehehe. Sana maka join na ako next time. Wala kasi akong camera eh, phone lang eh hehehe. =)
ReplyDeleteAlam mo ba, Mommy Jen, na I used hubby's old phone, Nokia N73 in almost all of my blog photos lalo na ang close up shots? Camera phone pwede na. It doesn't matter kung ano ang gamit nating camera. Lighting ang secret! You place the reflector facing the source of light, malapit sa object na kukuhanan mo ng photo. It reflects the light, so nagba-bounce sa subject kaya malinaw ang kuha, very detailed. Next workshop attend ka. Sulit talaga!
DeleteThanks for sharing. Inabangan ko to. Dame kong natutunan. Para na rin ako umattend ng seminar. Keep me posted para maka-join ako sa next seminar. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Em! Buti may natutuhan ka kahit konti.:) I'll inform you kapag may sched na ang round 2 ng workshop. Iba ba rin ang actual learning experience. :)
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
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